BREAKING: INEC removes 1.6 million invalid voter information from database

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has deleted 1,608,660 invalid voter registrations from its database.

The fee stated that it has additionally eliminated 1,749 information belonging to deceased individuals.

Prof. Joash Amupitan, INEC chairman introduced the figures on Monday whereas briefing journalists on the result of the evaluate.

According to Amupitan, the fee acquired a complete of 11,088,238 registration information from the three phases of the 2025/2026 voter registration train.

An preliminary screening performed with INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) flagged 1,545,052 information for additional investigation.

However, the chairman cautioned in opposition to deciphering each flagged entry as an invalid registration. He defined that the automated system was designed to determine information requiring extra scrutiny, to not make last selections on their validity.

Each flagged file, he stated, was subjected to additional examination and an authorised adjudication course of earlier than the fee reached its conclusions.

The evaluate got here after INEC displayed the preliminary register of voters nationwide between October 9 and 15, 2026, giving Nigerians a possibility to examine the entries and lift objections.

That train generated issues from members of the general public and civil society organisations, who pointed to what they thought-about suspicious entries within the register.

Among the problems raised had been duplicate registrations, uncommon names, images suspected to have been artificially generated utilizing synthetic intelligence, and information belonging to individuals who had died.

Some of the questionable images circulated broadly on social media, drawing consideration to the verification course of and elevating questions on how such entries made it into the preliminary register.

The complaints prompted additional scrutiny by the fee, which subsequently reviewed the disputed information as a part of its nationwide clean-up train.

Beyond the elimination of invalid registrations, INEC disclosed that 54 registration officers in 10 states had been recognized for doable disciplinary motion over alleged irregularities linked to the train.

Amupitan stated the officers might face administrative sanctions or prosecution, relying on the result of the mandatory investigations and proceedings.

The growth provides one other layer of scrutiny to the voter registration course of as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 basic elections, with the accuracy of the electoral register remaining a key difficulty for political events, civil society teams and voters.

INEC stated the ultimate, cleaned-up register of voters can be revealed on December 16, 2026, in step with the provisions of the Electoral Act.